Planes that turn your head

Center_Mid

Well-Known Member
In the last month or so, has any aircraft on the ramp at your home airport turned your head for any reason? For example, I fly out of Boeing Field in Seattle. While preflighting on Saturday, I watched Boeing's experimental 777-300ER takeoff, shortly followed by an SBD Dauntless. Each time, a small crowd of 3-4 folks gathered to watch these planes depart. And it was worth it - from the awe-inspiring scale of the 777 to the low rumble of the SBD's engine.

It got me wondering about the experiences of people on this site. What airplanes have turned your heads lately?
 
I saw a DHC-4 Caribou last week..man that thing was funny looking...I was so intrigued by its look that I did a search of the N number..turns out the exact airplane I was looking at was on this companies website as they have an STC to convert the engines to tubine PT-6's..pretty cool..

Caribou
 
This:

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As restoration is still in progress, last Saturday was its first time out in the sun and in public view. It turned a lot of heads.

Sarah
 
When I was little I was in the Ann & Hope parking lot and a Beechcraft Starship fly a few hundred feet over me on final approach to runway 16 at PVD... I thought I was seeing things until just a few years ago I saw a photo of it.
 
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Saw a Piaggio Avanti for the first time up close and personal at BKL recently- nice looking plane!

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yeah i saw one at KOXB the other day. I saw a starship a while ago. Won't see them any more tho
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. Had a G-V on the ramp at KGED the other day, thats not really to big tho because we have a BBJ center there where all the BBJ's stop by for the longrange fuel tanks.
 
Saw a shiny F-100 on the ramp at SAT a few months back. Very, very cool. Talk about a plane you don't see every day.

(BTW, now that I think about this, no, it was NOT an American Airlines Fokker F100, but a privately owned North American F-100 ex-Cold-War fighter...)
 
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Saw a shiny F-100 on the ramp at SAT a few months back. Very, very cool. Talk about a plane you don't see every day.

(BTW, now that I think about this, no, it was NOT an American Airlines Fokker F100, but a privately owned North American F-100 ex-Cold-War fighter...)

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Hmm. I wonder - what is the most current fighter that can be privately purchased? I know you can buy an A-4. You can buy a T-38. I wonder if F-4s are available. Would you need a RIO/WSO to fly it?

If we all pitch in, maybe we could buy shares of an F-4!!!
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Saw a shiny F-100 on the ramp at SAT a few months back. Very, very cool. Talk about a plane you don't see every day.

(BTW, now that I think about this, no, it was NOT an American Airlines Fokker F100, but a privately owned North American F-100 ex-Cold-War fighter...)

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Hmm. I wonder - what is the most current fighter that can be privately purchased? I know you can buy an A-4. You can buy a T-38. I wonder if F-4s are available. Would you need a RIO/WSO to fly it?

If we all pitch in, maybe we could buy shares of an F-4!!!
wink.gif


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I once heard there is a privately reqistered FA-18. I am not sure who owns it, however I am sure it is not pimped out with all the things ready for combat!
 
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[. Would you need a RIO/WSO to fly it?

If we all pitch in, maybe we could buy shares of an F-4!!!
wink.gif


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Nope, no WSO needed just to fly it. Thunderbirds flew theirs solo.

Company that has A-4s at KIWA would be cool to work for, and I've got the mins. Also, neat F-104 at IWA on the ramp.
 
Had a Global Express in last week. Pretty much just a GV to me but it had the sickest interior I have ever seen. Oh to have money like that...............
 
That Hughes Racer that crashed the other week was a real good looking airplane.
 
How about the MU-2...

Not much to look at, but you'll turn to look just to see what all that noise is about!

Paul
 
haha yeah. I know a guy at MTN that flies an all black one. That really gets you attention. Their R44 all black to.
 
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Saw a shiny F-100 on the ramp at SAT a few months back. Very, very cool. Talk about a plane you don't see every day.

(BTW, now that I think about this, no, it was NOT an American Airlines Fokker F100, but a privately owned North American F-100 ex-Cold-War fighter...)

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm. I wonder - what is the most current fighter that can be privately purchased? I know you can buy an A-4. You can buy a T-38. I wonder if F-4s are available. Would you need a RIO/WSO to fly it?

If we all pitch in, maybe we could buy shares of an F-4!!!
wink.gif


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It is illegal to purchase an ex-military supersonic capable aircraft. However, up until about 3 years ago, it was not illegal to import a supersonic aircraft. There were a number of people who purchased old MiGs and such. People were purchasing ex-RCAF CF-5s. In fact, the MiG-23 on display at Wright-Patterson was seized by Customs after a private owner purchased it from Finland but did not make sure it was adequately de-militarized; they frown on it when you bring in an aircraft with a working cannon...

Sadly, you cannot get a supersonic aircraft in the US any more unless you are a museum and take great measures to ensure that the plane will NEVER fly again...
 
Starship. Used to see one on my local fields ramp quite a bit a few years back.

Too bad they are all being recalled and destroyed.

Josh
 
They had a preview even at MRY yesterday that I went on over too. Free food, and some cools stuff you can never afford.

I have to say I was not at all impressed by the Avanti. Sure it stood out, and was parked in the middle of the circle of other craft around, but it isn't all that nice inside even. I'd have taken the B350 or even the C90 they had there any day over it. Though my personal favorite was a conversion panel that a company did in an older Falcon Jet. Guy there said was about $2.5million in that panel, on a plane worth about $10 mil alone. Their goal was to show it was a lot cheaper to take your current jet, and upgrade than buy something new, and you could have a nicer setup in the end. The $2.5mil being upgrade costs gives a nice tax break, and the plane comes in about 1/2 what new would cost.

Heck, the Pilatus PC12 was nicer than the Avanti. The Avanti does get marks for funky-looking factor though.

Josh
 
...The first time I saw a 747 like THIS at KMIA. It was a 744 from South African Airlines. DUH!!... (I just realize that the picture IS a 744 from South African Airlines at MIA!!!)
 
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